the blanket knight
by realisic golden mangle
Summary: this takes place after the story of hollow knight, but they infection still exists. the knight (otherwise known as the player) is older now and mainly likes to stay in dirtmouth.
1. chapter 1-infected

Chapter 1- infected

My mom and me live in hallownest, all the way in the city of tears, hidden from the rest.

Mom only says that we are hiding because people are infected and she doesn't want me to get infected.

My mom says one day that she's going to see the king.

She never came back.

So I went out for myself.

I found her near the kings door, orange dots now in her hollow eyes.

"Momma…" I grieved, upset that she had been infected.

I hug her, and she takes out her nail, striking me.

There's a crack in the top of my head. It hurts.

I run out of there, running all the way to a crossroads.

I trip, hurting my face and leaving a big crack in it.

I feel so weak, but I manage to make it to a small town before I pass out on the ground.

I am awoken by someone talking.

I get up, looking around.

I can't see anyone, maybe it's outside.

There's a mirror in front of me.

There's some on bandages the top of my head and on my face, where i got hurt.

I don't have my blanket around me, but a cloth that still works as a cover up.

I also have some bandages on my feet, I must have hurt them too when I tripped.

I stare at my reflection, a sadness in my hollow heart.

I can see my nail on my back and my ponytail, brown with life.

I take my nail, taking the elastic out of my hair.

I cut my hair, making it shorter.

I chuck the elastic away, looking at my hair on the ground.

I look at the mirror again.

My hair is next to my head, only down to the piece of cloth that I'm wearing other than what it was like before.

I put my nail back on my back and I clean up the hair on the ground.

I need to find my blanket, they call me the blanket knight for a reason!

...though no one other than my mom and me called me that but...whatever.

I take the bandages off first, showing the cracks in my face and head and the bruises on my feet.

I'll live.

I walk out and someone notices me.

"Hello little one, i've never seen you before."

I look up at him.

"Are you looking for something, little one?"

"My blanket"

"You mean this?"

The person is holding a blanket, it has blue and grey and white stripes.

I nod.

They hand it to me and i put it on, giving them the cloth piece.

They notice the cracks in my face.

"Oh dear, i thought i covered that up"

"No, it's okay"

"I'll live"

"Little one, how are you feeling?"

"Fine, why?"

"You were passed out in our little town and you were hurt, who hurt you?"

"My mom…"

I say, upset.  
"Your mom..?"

"Yeah...she got infected…"

I feel like crying.

They seem to notice this and they say, "here, here, sit"

I sit down on the bench that is right next to me.

They sit next to me, putting me in their lap.

They rub my head and I close my eyes, starting to feel better.

After a while, they say, I never told you my name, did i?"

"Well, my name is knight"

"...knight?"

"That is who i am, yes"

"What's your name, little one?"

"My name…?"

I was beginning to feel tired from knight rubbing my head.

"Yes"

"I'm elisa, the blanket knight!"

They chuckle, rubbing my head more and i make a sort of cute noise.

"What's…"

I yawn, snuggling into them.

"What's so funny 'bout that.."

I say, sleepy.

"You said it so proudly"

"Keep it that way, you will do great things one day, little one."

"Mmm..okay knight.."

They rub my head more and I snuggle up close to them, drifting off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2-knight

Chapter 2- knight

"_I'll be right back alisa!"_

"_Where are you going momma?"_

"_To see the king"_

"_Why?"_

_She doesn't answer, only leaving._

_She doesn't come back for a day._

_A week._

_A month._

_I go and investigate, finding her._

_She is infected, her eyes having orange dots in them._

"_Momma…" _

_I hug her._

_She goes and shatters my mask. I slump down, falling to the ground._

I wake up, panicked.

Knight rubs my head and I close my eyes again.

My blanket is so soft and...clean..?

"Knight..?"

"Hmm?"

They sound like they were distracted by something.

"Did you wash my blanket..?"

"I did, it was so dirty."

"Thank you"

"?"

"For saving me"

They rub my head some more and i make a cute noise.

"You're welcome little one"

There's a long silence.

I open my eyes, looking up at them.

"Are...what are you looking at?"

"Nothing, really"

Their eyes are hollow, just like everyone else's.

Just then, I hear someone's footsteps.

I look over.

"Greetings, ghost"

She says.

They look over at her.

"Hey hornet, how are you?"

"Good, good"

"Who's this, another ghost?"

I look at her, confused.

Why is she calling me a ghost? I'm alive, isn't i?

Their body shakes with laughter.

After they laugh, they say, "I'm not really sure, I found her in the forgotten cross roads, hurt"

"Why was she hurt?"

"She said that her mom hurt her, and it looked like she tripped on the way here"

"Her mom hurt her..?"

"Her mother got infected"

"Ah, I see"

I look at the two as they talk, knight looking at me as I sit and watch them.

I sense this, looking at them.

"You've been quiet all this time, little one. You can say something if you want"

"...but i don't wanna be rude…"

I say, looking down.

"It's not, little one"

I look back at them, then at hornet.

"Sit down with us...hor..hor..horny!"

"_Hornet_, little ghost, hornet"

I nod.

"Sit with us hornet!"

She does so, sitting on the bench.

"Why did you call me a ghost?"

"Oh, you just remind me of knight, i would call him ghost when they were little"

"Well, i have a name"

"I would hope you would"

Knight laughs, though i don't get why.

"What's your name"

Hornet says after knight stops laughing.

"Elisa, the blanket knight!"

"What a nice name, elisa"

"Thank you, hornet"

Knight is staring at nothing.

"Something on your mind, knight?"

I look up at him.

He rubs my head and I make this sort of humming noise, my eyes closing.

"Hornet…"

"Yes, knight?"

"Do..do you think it would be good to take care of this child?"

"Are...you saying what I think you're saying?"

Knight nods, i can feel it.

"You really want to adopt this child?"

"Her mom is lost to the infection, what am i supposed to do?"

There's a long silence.

"You're right"

There's another silence.

Knight rubs my head and i make the humming noise again, snuggling into him.

"I'll help you"

Knight stops rubbing my head and I open my eyes.

He's staring at her, eyes wide.

"Wha-what?"

They stutter, still looking at hornet with wide eyes.

"I'll help you take care of her"

"Wha-really?"

Hornet nods, rubbing my head.

I kinda lay down on knights lap, closing my eyes.

She rubs my back and I make that humming noise.

Knight is just staring at hornet, then rubs my head again.

Hornet is still rubbing my back and with the two rubbing, the humming noise i'm making becomes louder.

"She likes this, doesn't she"

"Seems so"

There's a moment of silence.

"She's so cute, knight"

"She is, isn't she"

That's the last thing i hear before falling asleep.


	3. Chapter 3-a family?

Chapter 3- a family?

Knight and hornet go back to their small home near the bench.

Knight puts elisa down on the bed in one of the rooms, putting the cloth on her body and the blanket that they usually wear on her.

She sleeps peacefully.

Knight stares at her, a warmth filling them as they look at the little child.

Hornet puts a hand on their shoulder.

"You really think you can take care of her?"

"I've beaten harder things than this, hornet. Of course i can take care of her"

"...i'll try my best to help, ghost"

Knight looks at hornet, nodding.

They leave the room, knight closing the door meekly as not to wake elisa.

"There's another room, though I usually sleep by myself…"

Knight blushes, somehow.

It was hard for hornet not to take the offer, she was going to help him take care of the little ghost, so...why not?

"If you don't mind, we could sleep together, ghost"

They seem to blush more.

"I don't mind"

They go in the room.

Knight goes on the bed, laying down.

Hornet looks around.

There's not much in the room, other than a table with charms on it and the bed.

Hornet goes and lays with him, though since they're against the wall, they lay on the other part of the bed, kinda being spooned by knight.

Knight is blushing quite a lot, but doesn't say anything.

Hornet wonders if they like her.

She shoves the thought away, closing her eyes.

Knight can't sleep, hornet is so close and warm compared to their cold void filled body.

They snuggle up against her, wrapping their arms around her.

Hornets already fallen asleep, so she doesn't notice.

Usually knight is cold from the void inside them, but hornet is so warm and nice...

They put their head on her head, closing their eyes.

/

Hornet wakes up, looking around the room lazily.

There's a nail next to the door, she didn't see it before, the table with the charms on it and there's a small noise behind her.

Hornet looks behind her, seeing knight snuggled up against her with their head against hers.

She blushes lightly, though not moving.

They were cold, but for some reason, she found it comfortable to be close to them.

She isn't sure what time it is, but she can hear sobbing from somewhere in the house.

Hornet gets out of their grasp, hoping they don't wake up.

They don't, sleeping still.

Hornet follows the sound to elisas room.

Elisas sobbing.

Hornet opens the door, going to her.

She sits on elisas bed, putting elisa on her lap.

"What's wrong, little ghost?"

Elisa sniffs, (somehow) looking at hornet.

"Momma...she...i keep having nightmares about her killing me…"

Hornet hugs her.

"It's alright little ghost...it's alright…"

She makes a soft whimpering sound.

"I miss my momma…"

Hornet hugs her a bit more, rubbing her back.

_What can i do to make little ghost feel better?_

_she seem so sad…_

"You have us now little one"

Hornet looks up. Knight is standing in the doorway.

_When did ghost get here?_

Elisa goes over to knight.

They pick her up, wiping her tears.

"I know you miss your mother, but we can't do much about it, little one"

She looks away from them.

"Yeah.."

"Little one"

She looks at them again.

"It will all be alright."

"Will it?"

"Yes, i promise."

"Okay"

There's a long silence.

Knight grabs her blanket, putting it around her, but not taking the cloth off.

"I know you're a blanket knight, but we wouldn't want your blanket to get dirty again, would we?"

Elisa laughs a little.

"I suppose so"

"You know, I used to wear this very cloth that you are right now"

"You did?"

"I did, little one, I did"

"Hmm"

There's a bit of a silence.

Elisa looks up at knights horns.

She wonders if she can go in between them.

"What are you thinking about, little one?"

"Can I go on your head?"

She doesn't even hesitate as she asks and that surprises them.

"Um...sure"

Knight puts her on their head.

She kinds sits there, trying not to put her feet in their eyes.

Hornet stars laughing.

"W-what are you laughing about?"

"Sorry, hehe, it's just you look a bit silly with her on your head"

"But also it's cute"

"C-cute?" knight and elisa both say.

"Yeah, you look like father and daughter"

"Well, other than the fact that elisa has hair, and no horns"

"I have horns!"

"You do?"

"Yep! They're just tiny, they just barely poke out of my hair"

And she was right.

There's two little nubs of horns coming out of her hair, but barely.

"Why'd you have hair in the first place?"

She shrugs.

"My mom has hair too"

"Why?"

Elisa shrugs again.

"Is it really hair?"

"Nope! It's brown feathers"

"Wait, really?"

"Yep! It just looks like hair"

"Huh"


	4. Chapter 4-wounds

Chapter 4-wounds

Alisa looks at the cloth that knight gave her.

She's still a blanket knight, she just left her blanket at home.

She leaves the house, walking around the town of dirtmouth.

She sees a well and jumps down it, but she lands on her mask, it leaving a crack in it.

She stands up, holding her head.

She doesn't feel weak, but it still hurt.

She walks around, only to get hit by an infected bug.

Her mask gets cracked more, the crack almost going though the whole mask.

She goes back up from the well, only to trip and fall on her mask, shattering it.

Knight and hornet are inside their home, looking for elisa.

"Little ghost!?"

"Little one!?"

They call out, though no one answers.

They wonder if she went outside, so they check.

They see her cracked mask, and a shade next to it, floating around.

"Elisa!"

Knight shouts out, going to her cracked mask.

Just then she shows up at the bench, from the last time she sat there.

The cracked mask disappears as she reappears.

Knight looks over at her.

"What happened!?"

They ask before releasing how tired she looks.

She stares at him.

That's all she does.

They stare back.

Elisas shade goes toward her, flying around her head.

She looks up at the shade, staring into its eyes.

It stops, staring at her.

The shade goes off.

Elisa stares at nothing.

"Did you do this when you were little?"

Hornet says, speaking up.

"No, I never did this when my shade left me"

"..."

"Hornet"

"Yes?"

"I think her shade _is _her personality."

"I think so too"

Elisa just stares at nothing.

"She's acting just like you, when you were young"

"I know...it's kinda…creepy…"

"Wait, where'd her shade go?"

The shade is near their house.

Elisa goes over, staring at it.

The shade goes off and sits on the bench.

Elisa stares at it, going over and sitting next to it.

"My shade was never this...friendly"

"Maybe hers is nice because her shade _is_ her"

"Yeah"

Elisa takes her nail and the shade shakes its head.

She attacks the shade, the shade getting off the bench.

She does it again, the shade falling to the ground.

Elisa stands across from it, her nail still out.

The shade shakes its head, faster this time.

Hornet stands between them.

"Now, don't fight"

Elisa puts her nail on her back again.

"Just let the shade do it their way"

Elisa stares at her, then at the shade.

The shade sits up, going over to elisa.

It goes inside of her.

In a moment, she goes from hollow to normal again.

"Oh, hey knight, hornet"

She doesn't know what happened.

"Elisa, why is your shade like that?"

"Huh?"

"Your shade"

"Ohhhh...when i was born i was just a shade, i was just created that way. My mom said that she didn't know why. She made me a body, though because I was born as a shade, all my emotions came from my shade, so my body was lifeless without my shade."

"Makes sense...makes sense…"

Knight says, nodding.

"My shade was never so friendly…"

"Oh, my body is worse. It tries to hurt me and kill me, like i'm a mistake"

"I know, I had to stop it."

Hornet says.

"You did?"

"Yes, it was going to fight you and it was going to win. It's too hollow, too lifeless"

"Yeah...now that I think about it…"

A flash of the memory flashes in front of her eyes.

The memory shows her body in front of her, holding its nail.

"Why does it want to kill me so much?"

"Can you ask it..?"

"I would have to leave my body…but the only way to do that is...my mask shattering…"

"..."

"I'll do it"

Hornet says.

"Hornet!"

Knight yells.

"I don't want to, but we need to know"

She aims her needle.

Her needle goes through elisas mask, shattering it.

"Hornet!"

"She'll be back"

"..."

Knight looks down at the ground.

The shade is sitting on the bench, the body right next to it.

"**Why do you want to hurt me?**"

The shade says to her body.

"**You're a mistake, you were meant to have a body i need-i nnnneeddd…**"

"**You don't need to kill me. You're my body for hallownests's sake!**"

"**You shouldn't be a shade you shouldn't you shouldn't-**"

The shade strikes the body.

"**Then I don't need **_**you**_"

The shade grabs the nail from the body's back.

She stabs the body in the mask.

It shatters, and it disappears, leaving the cloth behind.

The shade puts the cloth on, covering up the void that forms her body.

Knight and hornet stare with awe.

"**Well, i guess i'm just a shade again…**"


	5. Chapter 5-stella the shade

Chapter 5-stella the shade

"You're so strong, little one.."

Knight says, still staring full of awe.

"**Yeah, i guess**"

"...we can make you another body-"

"**This is okay, I don't need another body**"

"If you say so little one…"

Knight looks down at the ground.

They look sad.

"**Why are you sad knight? Did I do something wrong?**"

"No no...i just…"

"I was scared for a moment that you weren't going to come back when hornet destroyed your body to get you out"

Knight says to the ground.

Hornet goes over to them, lifting their head up.

"I could tell you were, ghost. But I promise I'll never do it again"

Knight blushes slightly as they look at her.

"Hornet..?"

"Yes ghost?"

"I...i think i love you"

Hornet blushes a lot, looking away.

_They do like me..._

_What do I say? I'm not sure if I like them back…_

"I.."

Hornet says with hesitation.

_Though...i have thought as ghost as...cute before…_

_They look quite cute right now, blushing and waiting for an answer._

"I think I love you too, ghost"

…_i want to kiss them_

_Though we have no mouths…_

_I guess i can just..?_

Hornet 'kisses' knight on the cheek.

Knight blushes a lot.

The shade is giggling.

They look over at her.

"What's so funny?"

"**Sorry, it was just really cute**"

"Ah, I see"

Hornet looks at the shade.

"Did you name yourself elisa?"

"**No, my mom did. I named myself stella**"

"Well, you can have your name be stella again"

"**Really?**"

"If you want"

"**Yeah, i'll be stella again.**"

Knight looks at hornet, then back at stella.

"Are...you sure you don't want a body?"

"**...what's wrong with me being a shade?**"

"Nothing! I just...i was kinda used to seeing you with a body, not as a shade"

"**Oh, well**"

Stella goes over to them, going in their lap.

"**It's the same thing as having a body, I'm sure you'll get used to it**"

"Alright little one"

"**Hey knight?**"

"Yes?"

"**Does your shade do anything like I do?**"

"Well, it tried to attack me before but now it just kinda sits there. Sometimes it talks to me, but I can't understand it"

"**I wanna see you're shade knight**"

"I dunno…"

"**Com'on knight please?**"

"Okay, okay. Just for you little one"

They look at hornet.

Hornet nods, striking them with her needle.

Knight falls to the ground, mask cracked.

They then reappear at the bench.

Their shade just floats there.

Knight goes over to their shade.

"**Yeh woh uoy gniod?**"

"I don't know what you're saying"

"**Uoy t'nac?**"

"I don't know what you're saying"

"**They said, hey how you doing?, followed by, you can't?**"

"You can understand that?"

"**I'ma shade too, knight**"

"Oh, right"

"**yrros rof ginyrt ot truh uoy erofeb**"

Knight looks at stella.

"**They said, sorry for trying to hurt you before**"

"It's okay"

"**Yllaer? Sknaht!**"

"**Really? Thanks!**"

"You're welcome...uh.."

"**Ym eman si lessev**"

"**My name is vessel**"

"You're welcome vessel"

"**S'tahw ruoy eman?**"

"**What's your name?**"

"My name is knight, can i um..have my geo back now?"

Vessel nods and knight strikes vessel and the soul and geo they had goes back to them.

"My shade is friendly"

"It speaks backwards though"

Hornet says.

"**Yeah, most shades do**"

"They do? Why don't you talk backwards?"

"**They were just shades, they used to have bodies. I was born like this**"

"Oh right"


End file.
